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Dr. Harrison Blackwood
Dr. Harrison Blackwood was the main antagonist on ICWXP from Episode 101 until Episode 104. Often mistaken for a mad scientist, Blackwood actually fancies himself a "mad inventor". The brief glimpses into his workshop when he would communicate with Rick and the 'Bots is reflective of this. Blackwood created Topsy Bot 5000 and Johnny Cylon, as well as an undetermined amount of other robots that refer to themselves as "highly advanced, independently thinking and evolving worker droids". It is suggested that his main motive for constructing these droids was to aid him in maintaining Cine-A-Sorrow Theater, which he legally owned some time in the 1950's or 1960's. During his rocky ownership of Cine-A-Sorrow Theater, Blackwood installed massive and elaborate mechanical doors leading to Theater 6. This was to prevent movie-goers from leaving so he might (assumingly) also monitor their reactions to the terrible films shown in the way he does Rick's. Pre-recorded messages from Blackwood played in the hallway containing these doors in Episode 104 seem to imply patrons were lied to about their purpose to get them into the theater. His motives for subjecting innocent people to bad cinema seem to be part of an experiment similar to the one imposed on Joel Robinson and Mike Nelson on MST3K. In Host Segment 2 of Episode 104, Topsy Bot 5000 eludes to the fact that patrons may have died during these imprisonments (this may simply be a comedic exaggeration of how bad the films shown were, suggesting they were of a low enough quality to drive people to suicide or death by boredom). Cine-A-Sorrow was eventually shut down due to fire code violations, so if people did indeed die as a result of Blackwood's imprisonment, it can be concluded he was not caught. After losing ownership of the theater, Blackwood retreated to the bowels of the building's sub-basement and presumably remained within his workshop (or in other secluded areas of the theater) for decades, scaring off potential new owners through whatever means he could devise. Many years later, Blackwood is the man responsible for subjecting Rick and the 'bots to the bad movies they are forced to watch in Episode 101 through Episode 103. In Episode 104, Blackwood is forcibly removed from his underground workshop beneath Cine-A-Sorrow Theater by Special Agent Jonathan Kincaid. Using a taser baton, Kincaid incapacitates Blackwood and carries him off screen. Blood is spilled in the incident, but it is unclear as to how. It does seem implied that the blood is indeed Blackwood's. Kincaid explains that Blackwood has been "sent for re-education" and that "some of his politics" didn't match with the enigmatic company he works for called The Ludivico Corporation. He goes on to imply that Blackwood was making personal calls from the theater (his addiction to phone sex hotlines like the "Sulty Super Sluts Seductresses Hotline" supports this) and that he may have been stealing office supplies. This would strongly suggest that Blackwood actually answers to Ludivico as well and that they perhaps own the theater. It is left ambiguous as to where Blackwood is taken after this incident for his "re-education", who takes him away, or just how badly he suffered at the hands of Kincaid. However, in Host Segment 5 of Episode 104, Kincaid reveals to Rick and the 'bots that he somehow removed Blackwood's beard and presents it as a disturbing trophy. Blackwood's ultimate fate is a mystery, but series creator Rikk Wolf has stated in DVD commentary that he is likely to return, most likely played by himself (Rob Atwell is no longer a member of the cast). Wolf plays Blackwood via voice-over in Episode 104, as well as physically in the scenes where he is assaulted by Kincaid. Character Overview As with many ICWXP characters, Blackwood's life prior to the events in Episode 101 are unclear. The "Dr." prefix he attaches to his name is possibly fraudulent, although comments made to Zedekiah Logan in Episode 103 imply he may have attended and / or taught at Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University or Penn Valley Community College at different points in his life. Assuming Blackwood purchased and ran Cine-A-Sorrow in his late twenties or mid-thirties, this would likely place him in his seventies or later by the time of Episode 101 (a difficult visual to imply considering Rob Atwell's youthful age). However, the time period in which ICWXP is set has never been officially established. Blackwood may well be even older. In spite of the occasional wicked deed, (blackmailing Rick into watching bad movies so he isn't eaten by zombies) Blackwood has a rather slaphappy personality, and even seems to possibly suffer from alzheimer's or dementia. The latter is a strong possibility, most likely a cause of the severe isolation he subjected himself to beneath Cine-A-Sorrow. Blackwood has been known to offer kind (though odd) gestures, as in the instance where he offers plants to Rick and the 'bots to comfort them in their "sequesterment". In turn, he's shown cruel behavior, in which he eats an ice cream sundae that appears to have some kind of reptilian lifeform trapped inside, shouting at it to "shut up" as he eats it. He also seems pleased to see Rick and the 'Bots throw Darrell to the reanimates. Episode 103 sees Blackwood extremely high from sniffing magic markers he's banded together he refers to as a "time machine". This causes Blackwood to later hallucinate that he has traveled back in time to the early Paleolithic peroid. He then hallucinates the creature referred to in the credits as Zinger, which emits a party-whistle-like noise when a bad joke is told in its presence. Lastly, he imagines a confrontation with The Crimson Executioner. The Name The character's name is taken from the protagonist of the War of the Worlds TV series. This is a direct nod to Dr. Clayton Forrester of MST3K's name, which was taken from the name of the protagonist in the 1953 War of the Worlds feature film. This has been a highly popular choice on the part of the creators amongst MST3K fans and further served to distance ICWXP from being considered a "rip-off" by many.